The members of Justice in Armenia initiative, observing the parliamentary elections in Armenia, have protocolized a number of violations. After the vote, a member of Justice in Armenia initiative, Arsine Khanjian, during a meeting with journalists noted that people seemed to be unaware of the electoral process and were somewhat confused.
“It seems, that the voters, regardless of age, were not aware how to use the ballot papers and envelopes. As a result, we have witnessed an open vote, cases of directed voting, and overcrowding. We also witnessed violations of the secret ballot. There were 4-5 people in the same voting booth in several places,” Khanjian said.
In other electoral districts, Khanjian witnessed biased attitudes of chairmen and the secretaries, who were fulfilling the preferences of some proxies. She also noticed that the observers were despaired and weren’t unable to fully exercise their powers
Another observer of Justice in Armenia initiative, the director Atom Egoyan, spoke about the complicity of the entire electoral process. “It seems that everything has been done to predetermine the vote. For example, if one wanted to prove who s/he gave a vote to, he/she could drop a ballot into the ballot box and bring out the other ballots to show the proof of his/her vote, “Egoyan said.
At the same time, Egoyan noticed one positive trend – a tendency toward democracy and the activity of people. “Democracy is a muscle that needs to exercise. It’s an ongoing process. It is obvious, that there are people who want to become a part of that process. We have to find a way to involve young people in it, “he added.